Tom Touber becomes an 80 Day Race ambassador

80 Day Race is pleased to announce that Tom Touber, former COO and winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, has become an ambassador of the global sustainable race. Touber joins a group of leading figures from various industries that embrace and support the challenges of 80 Day Race.

Touber has been involved in ocean racing for the past 19 years while running teams in the Volvo Ocean Race, the competition his team won in 2005-2006, and was part of the executive management of the world’s largest sailing event during the last two editions. Today he is using his experience in top sports to support companies to improve their business. As consultant and executive coach he helps management teams to optimise their collaboration and companies to become more agile and adaptive to the market.

The Dutchman shares the passion for adventure, competitiveness and innovation needed to push the boundaries by circumnavigating the globe by sailboat, while only using manpower and the wind. Similar key values teams will need in 80 Day Race; the global competition in which teams cover 40,000 kilometres solely with vehicles that don’t consume fossil fuel.

80 Day Race is inspired by Jules Verne’s famous book ‘Around the world in 80 days’, betting that new means of transportation make it possible to achieve this challenge. As announced at Hôtel de Ville in Paris last year, the race will start in front of the Eiffel Tower. Once underway, the competitors are free to choose their own route to circumnavigate the globe between eight major cities in which events will take place, such as qualifying events, an educational programme and trade shows. The teams will visit the Le Mans track just before they depart on their final sprint back to Paris.

Tom Touber, former COO of the Volvo Ocean Race, said: “I find 80 Day Race a great initiative and see a lot of parallels between this competition and the Volvo Ocean Race. For example, teamwork is critical while sailing around the world depending only on the wind. The capability to innovate is key factor for success in this competition. You need to get the best out of your team, experiment doing things differently to achieve things they never achieved before. And what also counts for 80 Day Race, is that circumnavigating the world it is a boyhood dream for many and a real challenge. That’s what I like about 80 Day Race and I’m proud to become an ambassador.”

Frank Manders, co-founder and General Director at 80 Day Race, said: “The Volvo Ocean Race is one of those big human adventures that inspired us. It is the human story of pushing boundaries and travelling around the world in an exciting competition. Moreover, the Volvo Ocean Race uses sustainable propulsion by harnessing the power of the wind. So when we spoke to Tom Touber, the former COO of the Volvo Ocean Race, it was a great honour to hear he supports the idea of 80 Day Race. He agrees that ingredients that make the Volvo Ocean Race so special; adventure, innovation, competition and sustainability, are present in 80 Day Race. Now it is up to us to make 80 Day Race earn the same reputation!”

80 Day Race is in discussion with global partners, constructors, cities, local promoters and media partners to set a date for the start of the race. The city of Paris has already embraced the event; of where it will depart.